BENGALURU: Around 260 life convicts, who have spent close to two decades in the prison with remission and have a clean record post conviction in the prison, may get released if the State government approves their candidature for ‘premature’ release.
The Prison Department will shortly be submitting the list of the lifers to the Government, who fit the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court, which on July 23 restored to State governments their discretion to grant liberty to life convicts subject to conditions laid down by the court after it lifted its two-year-old ban.
“We will be sending the names of 260 prisoners to the government for release. It is the same list that we had submitted to the government last year but because of the Supreme Court ban on premature release of convicts the decision had to be kept in abeyance. We have gone through our recommendations carefully to ensure that the apex court guidelines on the matter are fulfilled,” said Additional Inspector General of Prisons V.S.Raja.
He added that once the government clears the list, the Prison Department will select more prisoners, who have spent more than 14 years with good prison record for release.
If everything goes well this will be second en masse 'premature' release of convicts after nine years in the State. In 2006, on the 50th anniversary of Karnataka, the - then H.D. Kumaraswamy government had pardoned 309 life convicts on grounds of consistent good behaviour, ill-health and report from the jurisdictional superintendent of police that their release would not harm society. Since then there have been no en masse release of life convicts in the State.
The names of 260 life convicts were cleared by the advisory boards and the Department last year after careful scrutiny. The convicts have completed more than 14 years with remission in the prison; are not life convicts; have not been tried under Central laws such as Terrorist & Disruptive Activities
(Prevention) Act (TADA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) or by a Central agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and have a record of good behaviour during the prison term.
In 2014 the State government had set up advisory boards at all the eight Central Prisons in Karnataka to screen and finalise the names of life convicts, who have spent a prison sentence of more than 14 years with remission.
